Streaming
Audio And Video On The Internet
Entertainment production values are a necessity in training
programs today. Our clients and
customers expect media to be high quality; otherwise, they are forbearing but
not necessarily attentive to the training message.
Fortunately, we belong to the digital age when quality production
and delivery systems compare favorably to what is available on cable for
entertainment. For this reason, demands for high quality delivery and
presentation nowadays should not be considered a luxury, but a valuable element
in the training mix.
With the Internet, the focus is not only just supplying
information to users but also giving them the choices to select the kind of
information they are most interested in, when to obtain this information, where
to extract this information, and how this information should take form.
Imagine using your computer to watch your favorite sporting event,
or watch your favorite television program or the evening news while listening
to a live Webcast of a musical performance. Imagine sitting in front of your computer monitor while
searching for articles on the latest political issues rather than going
through a pile of newspapers or magazine archives in a local library.
Imagine using video and audio technologies in your computer while
communicating with your customers regarding your latest products, or just
sitting in your favorite chair, chatting with your friends or business associates anywhere in the
world. The Internet is a sophisticated extension of digital media technology
dedicated to our growing need for information.
Streaming media is a technique that allows users to hear audio and
view video while the computer continues to download the input needed to view and hear program content. In the
case of multicasting, you use it as others are talking with you. Your
computer monitor becomes your window on the world. From anywhere in the world with internet access, you view a streaming
audio and video file immediately. Just as is found with text based content when a
Web page downloads on your browser. Unlike downloading a video or audio file to
be played later, streaming means just that: it streams onto your computer screen
enabling you to view contents while new sound and pictures are downloading.
So, how do you stream video onto the Internet ?
Here are the basic steps:
First, in order to stream a data in video form, you must use a 30-frames-per-second
analog video that is fed by a VCR or video camera to a video board within the
computer. This must then be converted from an analog wave form into binary
data. This representation is stored in the computer hard disk and further
reduced in size by video compression software. The video compression software
then scans each of the frames of the video file and distinguishes which are
redundant. The redundant ones are erased. Only needed data are retained.
You can then watch a file by clicking on an HTML tag embedded in a
website. When you do this, video streaming software on the remote server is
released and a steady stream of data begins to flow. But before you can watch
this, you must have an interface or a "player" installed in your
computer. If you have this, you can then watch the file requested through the
website's remote server.
Streaming media requires a considerable amount of bandwidth for
you to be able to experience media at its best quality. Fortunately, the miles
of fiber optic cable installed by organizations over the past several years
will prove to be one of the smartest investments made, especially for the
training function.
The World Training Institute can help you realize the benefits of training content delivered over the internet or your internal network.